Google's Changing, Are You?

Recently, Google has launched a changed page view for its search results. Taking a look at the changes, three things are catching my eye, The Good, The Bad, and The (not so) Ugly.

The Good

According to Alistair Dent’s article, What Google’s New Layout Means for Search Marketers”, iProspect UK has found that top banner ads receive a click-through rate that is 14 times that of the CTR received from Google’s right column ads. This leads to wasted impressions on the right hand column which leads to low quality scores for those ads which lead to less impressions all together. In a gist, more banner ads equal more clicks.

The Bad

Google is reducing the number of ads per page to seven down from the previous 11. For advertisers this can be seen as a bad change due to a typical supply and demand equation; with the supply going down and the demand remaining the same (or even increasing) the price will likely go up. However, another way to look at it is to notice that there will now be more top-of-page ads which give a higher availability to those ads.

The (not so) Ugly

For this one, let’s look at an example snapshot from Dent’s article of what a search result page will now look like:

Not a ton has changed except for the fact that there is only one organic search above the fold in this scenario. Because of this, the balance between SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay-per-click) is now increasingly important. The new look is likely to be uglier for the SEO ads that are fighting for that top above the fold result whereas PPC ads have a prettier view as they have a chance of better chance of being placed before the organic results.

Anyone in the industry will tell you that advertising is ever-changing and to keep up with the pace, advertisers must be ever-adapting. As side ads become a thing of the past, advertisers can expect to set a higher bid for their ads, strive for a placement in the expanded top ad section, eliminate ineffective impressions, and adjust their PPC and SEO campaigns accordingly.